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RESUME

​MARKETING  |  DESIGN  |  PRODUCT MANAGEMENT  |  PROJECT MANAGEMENT 
LEADERSHIP  |  EVENT COORDINATION  |  SOCIAL / DIGITAL MARKETING

 

SKILLS

Concept, design and execution of marketing strategies
Strong written and verbal communication skills
Business acumen
Analytical and situations-driven decision making
Strong leadership skills with a focus on teamwork and employee advancement
Organized and able to prioritize projects
Able to work creatively within a budget
Strong project management and able to meet deadlines
Successfully execute events and event planning
Successfully execute marketing plans
Able to multi-task and manage multiple projects 
Able to meet tight deadlines while maintaining quality within budget
Able to design across multiple media             
Able to maintain brand standards and guidelines
multiple programs and platforms     
Award-winning design in print, digital and environmental projects
Attention to detail

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EXPERIENCE

Director of Marketing Operations, January 2023 - Present
Lit Fiber, LLC, Medina, OH

- Design and develop local marketing campaigns for 2 markets
- Lead Corporate rebranding and brand merger
- Lead in billing system conversion
- Drive revenue and increase customer base by 300% over 2 years
- Develop and manage marketing strategy and plan
- Develop vendor relationships to complete media buys
- Oversee events, including planning, PR, and follow up

- Lead a team of marketing key players, including press, copywriting, event planning, social media, digital marketing
- Develop and manage budget and meet spending
- Create goals and learning opportunities for team members

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Sr. Director of Art and Marketing, December 2018 - December 2022
GigaMonster Networks, LLC, Marietta, GA
- Design and develop national marketing campaigns

- Launch and track new company-wide initiatives
- Launch and manage the successful launch of new markets

- Lead teams of marketing support, including, design and analytics
- Assist in project management, dept and company-wide

- Initiate corporate events, platforms and initiatives
- Develop customer projects, such as self-service portal

- Lead Corporate rebranding and design team
- Lead client, customer and vendor relationships        

- Drive revenue and identify missing revenue opportunities
- Assist in the integration of Salesforce as a new corporate platform    

- Consolidate branding of acquisitions
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Freelance Art Director, May 2004 – Present, Woodstock, GA

- Design and manage projects for various clients to meet client budgets and timelines
- Manage accounts for over 12 freelance clients to maintain superior client relationships
- Client List: JRM Management, North Georgia State Fair, Shrine Circus and Fair, TheAdFish Group, Fun-Fare, 
   Parallax Digital, 3i, Westin Jekyll Island, PlaySouth
Pro Bono Freelance Clients:
- Coalition for Healthy School Food (NYC): Digital, Print, Event Marketing
- GO campaign (Los Angeles): Various Design Projects, Event Marketing
- Lion Habitat Ranch (Las Vegas): Design signage and marketing materials 

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Design Director, January 2016 – December 2018
Art Director, August 2006 – January 2016

Benson Integrated Marketing Solutions, Alpharetta, GA
- Manage monthly billing budgets                

- Increase client satisfaction  
- Empower design team to take ownership of projects        

- Lead team of designers
- Provide support and design and program product templates for online storefront
- Provide design direction, and creative for environmental design projects, permanent and temporary
- Art direct client custom design projects resulting in over $150,000 in company revenues
- Created a business plan to advance the department to a stronger entity of the business
- Create a team of strong designers, who are passionate and love what they do
- Concept and design complete marketing collateral rebrands for over a dozen clients increasing annual revenue
- Concept and design promotional and marketing materials including: Print, digital, signage, event marketing, branding
- Maintain brand consistency for local and national clients and increase brand awareness
- Consult with clients on a project-by-project basis increasing project accuracy and streamline end results
- Design quality products in high pressure situations and tight deadlines to complete projects within budget
- Develop full branding strategies and maintain their integrity
- Design and develop marketing campaigns and programs

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Designer, January 2005 – August 2006, Kennesaw, GA Mopdog Advertising + Design
Graphic Designer, August 2004 – August 2006, Kennesaw, GA That’s My Baby

 

EDUCATION

Master of Science, Marketing

Georgia State University, J. Mack Robinson College of Business, December 2013, Atlanta, GA

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Certificate of Specialization in Brand and Customer Management

Georgia State University, J. Mack Robinson College of Business, December 2013, Atlanta, GA

                                                           

Bachelor of Fine Arts, Advertising Design

Atlanta College of Art, May 2004, Atlanta, GA

 

ADDITIONAL TRAINING

Leadership Training

Kelly Talamo Coaching, Professional Training & Coaching, January – December 2015, Alpharetta, GA

 

Milton Glaser Summer Workshop

School of Visual Arts, August 2010, New York, NY

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TECHNICAL SKILLS

Dual Platform, MAC and PC
Microsoft Office 365 : 
Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel
Adobe Creative Suite
Email Marketing :  ConstantContact, etc
FTP Applications, DropBox
Font Management Software
Social Media: Hubspot, Hootsuite
Heidelberg Prinect Cockpit, HP SmartStream, Fiery Impose
SEO / SEM optimization
Salesforce CRM, Marketing Cloud
Billing systems and integrations
Google Ad Manager, Meta
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AWARDS

Over 20 awards for design since 2008, including Guest of Honor at The New Coalition for Healthy School Food Fall Benefit 2009 and recognition in participation as Graphic Designer on the GRAMMY® Award-nominated recording, Healthy Food for Thought: Good Enough to Eat (various artists) in the category Best Spoken Word Album for Children, 53rd GRAMMY® Award Year 2010.

© 2022 Michelle Bando Gates. The content and images of this web site belong to Michelle Bando Gates or the Companies that the artwork is created for. The content and images may not be copied or used without written consent from Michelle Bando Gates and/or the Company that the artwork was created for.

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